


Bad Time

by synchnexus



Series: Warmonger [1]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, My First Work in This Fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-13
Updated: 2019-03-13
Packaged: 2019-11-16 17:11:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18098579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/synchnexus/pseuds/synchnexus
Summary: Word that Blue has returned from a trip reaches Piper, who rushes to pay him a visit, knowing all too well the mood that would surely overrun the vault dweller. She is not mistaken, though things eventually turn out for the better.





	Bad Time

**Author's Note:**

> Not quite my first work, but the first one to be posted! For now, just a small one-shot kinda thing, but hopefully it'll turn part of a bigger series eventually. Any feedback is appreciated! <3

If there was something that turned Diamond City's often colourful and busy air - even at such a late hour of night - into an eerily beautiful sight was the mere presence of rain.

You could not even  _ see  _ it, hidden on the dark expanse above, unless the droplets crossed the lamplit marketplace on their oscillating dance, covering surfaces with nature-made mirrors that reflected the neon lights in all possible angles.

 

At any drop of water in sight residents would make way to their homes, or seek the shelter of a crumpled bar and terrible, warm beer. A sad solace in these battered, post-apocalyptic lands, but no less worthy of appreciation- well  _ anything _ remotely able into bringing people together was worthy of notice.

 

Despite the nervousness that tingled at her fingertips, she took a single breath and then pushed the door open, greeted by warmth pleasantly in contrast to the  cool  droplets of tainted water pouring from above. Hastily avoiding  becoming more soggy, the reporter made her way inside without knocks or calls - as he  _ insistently _ requested of her.

The thought of mockery in his voice when pointing out that ‘needing to convince her, of all snoopy people, to come in uninvited was ironic’ brought a curve to her red and slightly swollen lips, product of a full round of her biting into them out of nervousness during the entire afternoon.

 

The smile lingered as she stopped  by the welcome mat and shut the door behind her, the cacophony of water banging against metal  echoing in the small workshop area. Music danced around the hot air of the Vault Dweller’s  _ lair _ ,  as she so fondly named it. The place was always half-lit, regardless of daylight, and carried the aura of some unknown wasteland beast. It hardly matched the figure of the caring and worried man that so often busied her mind and tightened her chest within.

… the same man that returned from a whole week of traipsing around Boston doing God-knows- _ what _ and just went straight home without even saying ‘hello’. If it were not for Nick, she might not even  _ know _ he was there already.

 

Piper wanted to be angry, but all she could do was bubble an immense amount of self-doubt and spend the entire day wondering if she should poke around or not. He surely didn’t mean to ignore her, right?

 

Right.

 

Sighing, she removed her damp trenchcoat and placed it on the hanger beside the door,  and  a curious Dogmeat came to greet her from the living area, ears initially perked in cautious interest,  but  then a pink tongue came lolling on the side as he trotted towards her with a wagging tail.

She lowered to his level with wide-open smile, hands promptly reaching behind his ears to scratch them. “Hey there boy, long time no see!”

Her greeting was met with even more excitement, then he simply offered her a playful bark and a bow, before taking off swiftly and disappearing on the corridor.

 

Looking at the mess made by soaking wet boots on the entrance, she dispensed those too, confident enough of Blue’s absurdly clean floor and household to wander around barefoot.  For their standards,  she had seen noblewomen much less finicky about the sanitary conditions of their luxury homes than he was,  filling his days of ‘rest’ with endless attempts of turning everything crystal clean . But then again, she couldn’t really blame him for trying to go back to the much less nightmarish waste feeling of the prewar times.

Piper recognized Magnolia’s voice sounding through the radio as she finally peeked into the corridor towards the rest of the house.

 

_I see you lookin’ around the corner, come on inside and pull up a chair_

 

Ironic, she thought, glancing over “her” desk and seeing its previous chaotic condition of papers, candy packages and burnt cigarettes gone, organized and clean. Otherwise, untouched. Yep, Blue was there.

 

_No need to feel like a stranger, ‘cause we’re all a little strange here_

 

He was not on the weapons rack, nor he was on the small kitchen area, both visible from the end of the wooden floor of the small entrance area. There was an abnormal amount of smoke spiralling in patterns around the air from the opposite wall though, hidden from view, and many, many empty bottles of all sorts of boozes.

 

_Have you got a history that needs erasing? Did you come in just for the beer and cigarettes?_

 

Piper’s heart sunk a little, and she got hold of her chest as though she felt it physically. She knew very well it was one of _those_ days. It was a repetitive patterns every time he took off to the Wastelands and disappeared for days and weeks with Nick or else. She proceeded quietly, worried she might spook a tired man’s sleep.

 

_A broken down dream you're tired of chasing? Oh well, I'm just the girl to make you forget_

 

Dogmeat threw himself back in the bedroll at the feet of the bed - his own luxury one - with a comical grunt, relaxing and dozing back to sleep with enviable speed. The bed itself slowly came into view, the man resting over the mattress with it. He was nested more towards the hallway side, left arm tossed over his eyes, other arm stretched off the limits of the bed, holding yet another bottle of alcohol, a lit cigarette tucked between his fingers. Considering the amount of burnt ash that almost tipped over, he had been motionless for a while.

 

_So we're glad you dropped by, come in and loosen up your tie. Have a drink or maybe just one more._

 

And there it was. Beside him above the sheets laid open the footlocker usually kept on the wall-side of the bed. Despite her insatiable curiosity, she didn’t run through this one locker. First, because she was _nosy_ but not insensitive of her boundaries, and second, because she feared the answers hidden within it. Victus’ breath was not the one of a sleeping person.

Gently, she grabbed the almost-filled ashtray from the small table, and crouched down near him, tapping softly at his rough and calloused knuckles. He shifted to stare at her, arm releasing his face, but carried no surprise or annoyance within his features. Instead, greyed-green eyes held her image with an underlying pain for a moment.

 

_But if you're searching for something, to bring you comfort… Oh well, I'm the one you're looking for_

 

Piper held his stare without managing to hide the worried frown in her brows. He broke it to look down at the ashtray, tapped a finger on it, and they both watched with fake interest as burnt paper fell onto the tray. Then he shifted his interest on placing the cigarette back on his mouth, just as she placed the ashtray back on the table.

 

_Now, is your motor running close to empty, or are you running from yourself?_

 

“Is this a bad time?” She asked, gently, almost like a whisper.

For a moment, as he stared once again at her with empty expression, she considered the hushed tone didn’t make it over the music. Until he simply shook his head, disagreeing. “No.”

 

_You thirsty for a brand new kind of pleasure, or are you hungry to be somebody else?_

 

“It’s always a bad time, tarberry. You’re the one making them bearable.” A short-living smile pulled one corner of his lips, causing her to do the same, albeit vanishing not as quickly.

Slowly, Victus lifted himself off the mattress, joints popping everywhere as he did, sitting to give her space to do the same, taking another sip before hanging his elbows on his thighs.

 

_So sit down your pretty face, you came to the right place. Oh where every night starts once more_

 

As she slid to the place next to him, she couldn’t help but glance over the box now laid open and easy to reach. Victus noticed her staring, an intangible feeling swirling behind his irises. Piper felt this was enough permission, but still asked as she held her hand above it.

“May I?”

He hesitated at first, and she was ready to just dismiss it and leave him to his privacy. But not a second before, the vault dweller simply nodded.

 

_I'm telling you friend, your search is at an end. 'Cause I'm the one you're looking for…_

 

The reporter had never rummaged through something as carefully as she was doing now, picking up the contents from the locker one by one, inspecting them respectfully, before setting them down again. Most of them, she couldn’t figure the connection, despite going a Valentine-would-be-proud investigation about them in her head. Others were incredibly easy to guess or too forthright to miss.

Some, she simply avoided to touch. Piper didn’t knew if out of consideration or by her own reservations, but she didn’t stop to measure that judgement either. The lone golden ring laid pitifully at the bottom, its pair faithfully kept on Blue’s hand. He had asked her, once, if it bothered her. She just dismissed him, hoping he wouldn’t worry about her trying to weasel her way into his life occupying all and any memories of his deceased spouse. She was definitely not.

And he was eternally thankful for that. For all her temper, he couldn’t deny her patience with a battered man.

Despite the radio’s continuing music, it was oddly silent. Not uncomfortable, but still heavy. It was as intimate as it could ever be, she realized. Only person that managed to pierce so deeply into this old-veteran’s life was, well, not a person. But Nick had a talent for that, and she hardly considered being able to beat Valentine’s winning charisma that so easily earned him a loyal-to-the-bone friend in Blue.

 

“How was she like?” Piper asked warily, voice low.

“Jennifer?” Her head bobbed positively. He chuckled, eyes instantly drifting off to a distant memory. “She was… _terrible_.” Victus squinted, features shifting to a dramatic thoughtfulness. “Would get along really well with someone I know.”

She smiled at his quip. “Guess you have a thing for troublemakers, Blue.”

“Well, that a fact.” He smiled, _finally_ , causing her nerves to ease up a little bit.

“It was an arranged marriage. Sorta.”

“I forgot those were a thing,” She stretched her hand out to the bottle, and he passed it over, relaxing.

“Yeah. Not with me, though. With my brother. But turns out she was very… _non-compliant_ with it and walked great lengths to make any preparations an endless headache. When he gave up on turning her one of those Nuka-Cola ad housewives, I stepped in and took the challenge.”

Piper’s brow raised when she teased. “Why did you need a housewife, Blue? You do the cleaning and cooking yourself.”

“Yeah, it’s on my list with ‘getting sassed by wise-ass reporters’.”

They both shared a laugh, and the bottle was back on his hands.

 

“She was just different, that’s all. Still followed the protocol after I told her it would be easier to handle things. Once we were married, she could make a fool of me all she wanted anyways. We did all the things people our age should be doing before settling down - gave a tour around the country in a sweet two-wheel I bought her as wedding gift. She called it ‘Siren’. Took her to the blues many times. Teach her to shoot.”

“Aren’t you a dashing loverboy?” Piper crossed her arms, ignoring the obvious indication that his family had been wealthy at the time. “I’ll be waiting on these, you know?”

“Well… I _have_ dragged you all across the Wastelands to shoot abominations and glowing monsters and rad-filled giant cockroaches, almost died several times, oh! and there was also the mutant-and-mirelurk ridden water plant…”

“C’mon Blue, if you held all these as dates, your standards have _seriously_ dropped.”

He looked like he wanted to laugh, but he held it back and continued. “And you know how to shoot, already. And I doubt there’s a working motorcycle anywhere near here.”

“There’s still the dancing. This one you won’t escape.”

“Fair enough.” He nodded acknowledging, bringing yet another smile to her lips. He took the last sip of the bottle and placed it with the several rest, disposing of the cigarette. “I can probs do a round of noodles with Takahashi. Preferably when there’s not a radstorm.”

“Deal.”

“Anyways-” He scratched behind his neck, sighing. “With these things and thrills out of the way she eventually reigned in on the whole rebellious teen motto and we both decided it was time to become ‘responsible’ adults. Never been more grateful for my brother to give up on that marriage.”

Piper’s lips couldn’t hide her happiness as the mood in him shifted from the grim, tobacco-riddled sadness to a light-hearted nostalgia. It wasn’t much, but it’s what they had right now. It was short-lived, though.

 

His features slowly slid back to it. “It’s what angers me the most. Yes, I miss her. Hell, I do. But a grizzled soldier learns how to lick his wounds. What breaks me is that the opportunity was _stolen_ from her. From us.”

She sighed again, worned out but not defeated, and dragged herself closer to embrace him, sliding one arm around his shoulders and another across his chest. Victus just let her, reaching out to her arm with both hands wearily as she put both in a slow rocking motion.

 

Holding him there for a while, she murmured near his neck, chin placed over a well-muscled shoulder blade. “Once a smartass told me not to try deciding who I wanted Nat to be. I know it’s not the same thing, but I guess my point is that the meaning is the same.”

She pulled away, ever so gently, just enough for them to look at each other. A thumb made its way to his ragged looking eyes, caressing the wrinkles that were not of age. “There are things you can’t change Blue. Hell, you’re changing a lot already, for other people. People that need you right now. I know I do.” She planted a kiss on his cheek, causing him to close his eyes and lean against her again. Piper just embraced him without reservation.

“What she was will never die with her.” He stated. She simply nodded, agreeing, without pressing him any further.

He let out a pained laugh, shooking his head. “I’m failing to see the same damn things I almost had to imprint in that old-toaster’s mind.” She let out an inevitable giggle at the derogatory remark at Nick, remembering how Ellie would deliberately call them out for bickering like a married couple.

 

They shared a quiet moment from there. She, holding a grown man like a consoling mother would hold her child, and he, grasping on her waist with both arms as if she was his last breath for dear life. It wasn’t until his fast-paced heartbeats gave in to the calm before they drew away slowly.

“I’ll let old ghosts rest.” He promised, taking off her press hat, brushing strings of dark hair away and pressing his lips fondly at her forehead, stroking the locks gently. “And make due with the blessings I have right now.” His eyes were down her face, smile widening.

Warmth crept up her cheeks inevitably, unprepared for the change of mood. It was silly, really, how she’d get flustered like a teenager at the mere mention of his flatterings, but after he openly stated it was one of the things he’d most cherish about her, she tried not to feel as self-conscious about it.

 

As if to ruin the moment - or simply set it forward - “The Wanderer” came bursting from the Radio’s speaker, taking off its previous somber mood. They both shot surprised glances at the object on the nightstand before laughing in unison.

 

_Oh well, I'm the type of guy who will never settle down_

 

A mischievous grin slid to his lips.. Uh-oh. That meant trouble.

 

_Where pretty girls are, well you know that I'm around_

 

“Blue-”

 

_I kiss 'em and I love 'em cause to me they're all the same_

 

“I think I promised my girl a dance.”

 

_I hug 'em and I squeeze 'em they don't even know my name_

 

“Wait, what? I was jok _ing!_ ”

 

_They call me the wanderer_

 

Her squeal as he took off the bed and dragged her along ringed cheerfully in his ears, ignoring her protests as they soon were gone.

 

_Yeah, the wanderer_

 

As he unashamedly lead out the pace, arm wrapped around her waist firmly and a smirk on his face, all he truly did was spin around the empty space with her. Dogmeat soon joined into the fray, barking excitedly and roaming around their legs as they laughed freely.

 

_I roam around, around, around…_


End file.
